1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone devices. More particularly, the invention provides a method for operating a telephone device which allows the execution of nontelephony commands while the telephone is in an off-hook condition.
2. The Background Art
Telephones have been used for many years for voice communication. Steady demand for more functionality has caused the capabilities of telephones and central office switching systems to improve. For example, older telephones often had rotary dials, and were capable of little more than a single-line voice call to another location. Design improvements have resulted in telephones which are much xe2x80x9csmarterxe2x80x9d than their predecessor devices, and which interface with a much smarter central office switching system.
Modern telephone devices often include provisions for handling features typically provided by a central office switching system such as call waiting, caller ID, etc.
Call waiting is a feature which gives a user who is already engaged in a first call an indication that a second call to them is being attempted by an external caller.
Caller ID is a feature which gives identifying information about an incoming call to a user, so that the user may determine whether to answer the call. Certain telephone devices known in the prior art are designed to store caller ID information about incoming calls in a database, so that information about missed calls may later be retrieved by a user.
In addition to handling call waiting and caller ID functions, some telephone devices are capable of displaying the length of a telephone call, displaying the current date and time, and for storing commonly used telephone numbers. While a call is in progress, however, such phones typically restrict the commands which may be initiated by a user to xe2x80x9ctelephony commandsxe2x80x9d.
For purposes of this application, xe2x80x9ctelephony commandsxe2x80x9d are commands directly related to a call in progress. Thus, telephony commands are commands that are necessary to initiate or receive a call, monitor, and/or display the cost of the call, view the number dialed, put a call on xe2x80x9choldxe2x80x9d, and initiate a conference call.
While a prior art telephone device is off-hook, only telephony-related command functions are available to a user. It would therefore be beneficial to provide a method and apparatus for processing commands in a telephone device which allows a user more flexibility in the commands which may be issued during an active call.
Due to increased focus on the internet, electronic devices for accessing information stored in a remote location have become commonplace. However, those devices are typically very complex, and are distinct from and therefore do not involve traditional telephone operations. It would therefore be beneficial to provide an apparatus which integrates traditional telephone operations with operations involving nontraditional telephone operations such as reading and replying to email or browsing web pages that are cached on the telephone device.
A telephone apparatus and a method for handling user initiated telephone commands is disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a CPU, a data memory, a program memory, an audio device, a clock, a display manager, a display and a telco handler, and is capable of handling normal telephone operations as well as allowing a user to access and process email, and to access and review web page information cached within the telephone device. The telephone device is also capable of accessing and retrieving email and web page data from external servers.
The method includes determining that the telephone apparatus is in an off-hook condition, determining that at least one nontelephony application program command has been requested; and executing the at least one nontelephony application program command.